


Wounds

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Series: Ready For The Siege [24]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Magic, Magical Artifacts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-23 23:36:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4896628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Planning and executing an attack against a magical vampire interested in devastating worlds... Yep. Another day in the world of our heroes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preparation

"You don't get it," Wanda told Carol. She was very unhappy at the thought of being sidelined in any upcoming battle against Selene. "Cosmic power is still a form of magic. She can drain it out of you, and then you'll be in the same place as all the magicians are. You can't fight a magic eater with magic."

Frustrated, Carol bared her teeth and growled. "So I'm useless? All this is hopeless?"

Wanda shook her head. "No. You just can't use magic to fight her directly."

"But I'm just about made of magic, then. If I hit her, she can drain it out of me."

"So we use the strength you have to launch physical attacks at her," Wanda reasoned. "She's vulnerable to physical attacks. When Loki cut her up with icicles when Natasha died, it was enough to get her to retreat."

"Then we need a way to lock her here."

"Exactly."

"Can you do that?"

Wanda shrugged. "I don't know. Frigga and Heimdall would have to leave Asgard vulnerable in order to help me here, but they might. And with the covens all together, maybe. I can do fate magic really well, better than they can."

"Fate magic?" Carol asked, skeptical.

Embarrassed, Wanda laughed a little. "A translation of _spá_ that I learned on Asgard. I'm really good at it."

"Huh. So you can lock her in this plane of existence and then we pound the crap out of her?"

"Kinda?" Wanda said, unsure of herself.

Carol shrugged and gave her a fierce smile. "Sounds good to me. So we'll need all our nonmagical heavy hitters on this to pound on her. War Machine, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, Black Widow... Does Thor count as magic?"

"He doesn't, but Mjolnir does."

"And you're magic."

"And Loki."

"Anybody you can rustle up from Asgard?"

"Sif would know which members of the guard could be spared. My brother Pietro was training with them, too."

"So we've got an army."

"Looks that way."

"Excellent," Carol said, giving her a fierce smile that unsettled her. "Let's get ready to rock."

***

Pietro Maximoff had gotten fairly muscular and far more self confident about his skills. Not only was he fast, but he was much stronger, hit harder, and knew how to fight as well as any of the royal guard. He and nearly thirty other warriors arrived at Avengers Tower, a welcome sight after another report from Jarvis about ten magic users around the world succumbing to strange illnesses and death. As soon as he saw his sister standing off to the side in a red dress, he broke ranks and rushed to her side. He swept her up easily, hugging her and kissing both cheeks. "My baby sister!" he cried. "It's good to be here!"

"Maximoff!" his commander boomed.

Looking contrite, Pietro put Wanda down and sheepishly looked over at the towering blond warrior. "Yes?"

"Introduce all of us," the man boomed. "Including your lovely sister."

Commander Aevir had worked with the castle guard for years, and was taller and broader than Thor. He was also pale skinned and blue eyed, and seemed to favor spears and the broadsword. He introduced the men in his company working with Pietro: Gansi, Almóðr, Haurr, Sigmundr, Hegri, Ráðmundr, Finngarðr, Eyjarr, Dvalinn, Ryggia, Mimmr, Ormi, Andvéttr, Eylir, Guðniótr, Haddr, Edvin, Gierni, Framarr, Gunnvarr, Sigvarðr, Torfi, Myndill, Agni and Nipingr. It was a tightly knit group of twenty-eight men under Aevir's command, all ready to battle with sword, spear, bow or fist. Commander Aevir bowed slightly before Thor and Sif, then smiled. "My Prince. Ambassador Sif. The petition for the Warriors Three to assist this realm has been approved by the Allfather, and they will also come to this realm's aid. The dangers were not fully discussed when we were dispatched, but all of us will fight with honor to bring prestige to our forefathers and realm."

Thor nodded regally and clapped Aevir on the shoulder. "Of course, Commander. We will outline the situation and plans so far to contain it. 

Though there usually was plenty of space in the tower for all of the Avengers present, but it suddenly felt smaller with twenty-eight additional Asgardians in it. Natasha wasn't terribly surprised to see that Loki had decided not to spend time in the common areas as soon as they arrived, but was surprised by Steve's absence.

Leaving the area, she found the two of them in the gym sparring. Loki's entire expression was tight and distressed, Steve's was determined. Both had already broken out in a sweat, and the short sleeves of Loki's shirt revealed finger shaped bruises on his arm. She watched silently as the two men grappled, neither giving an inch, until Loki abruptly sagged in Steve's grip. As Steve worked to readjust, Loki brought his head up sharply, snapping it into Steve's jaw, then brought his elbow into Steve's ribs. Though Steve recovered relatively quickly, it still was enough of a pause for Loki to grasp his knee and pull, landing Steve on his back. "Point," Loki said, voice clipped.

"Tied, then," Steve said, nodding and getting to his feet. He caught sight of Natasha and nodded at her. "Should she join or judge?"

Loki's lips compressed further. "Neither. Do they send word? Do they agree with this ridiculous plan they've concocted?"

It was the first Natasha had heard about Loki's dissent with the plan. "Is something wrong with it? Everyone else seems to think it will work."

"They talk of isolating a realm as if it is baby magic," Loki spat. "Or unweaving a _spá_ as if it a simple braid. An ordinary lifetime is difficult, let alone one as complicated at this creature's is." He turned away from Natasha, hands clenched. "Unweaving is a complicated task. It cannot be stopped once begun, else the backlash would be terrible. Control is required. Fortitude of a physical and mental sort."

"You don't think they have it," she realized. "You think they'll die in the attempt."

"Even the Sorcerer Supreme," Loki returned, turning back to face her, "is a mere mortal."

"Could you do it?"

His hands opened and closed, eyes sliding away from her. "No."

"Not alone, I wouldn't think," Steve said, grabbing a towel to wipe at his face and neck. "Not like the Essine Ruby. That one wiped you out a coupla times."

Loki nodded sharply, and Natasha wondered what it cost him to admit it to them.

"No one said that it had to be a single person doing the unweaving. Given the power and type of creature Selene is, I would think multiple people would have to do it at once." Natasha looked at Loki closely. "You and Wanda are the best bet, with Marissa and Dr. Strange protecting the two of you if the rest of us can't. Unless that's what you're afraid of. That something will happen to her, and the attempt will kill her."

"She's mortal," Loki scoffed. "A mere child. An annoyance."

"But you'll miss her if something happens." Natasha didn't smile when he met her eyes, a bleak expression in them. "That's why she needs you there, Loki. She might be good, but you've got the experience. You know what to do more than she does."

"If we fail, Selene will devour all of us," Loki murmured. "And the rest of Midgard is doomed."

She gave him a pitiful excuse of a smile, reaching out to grasp his arm in support. "Then we'd better not fail."

***

Heimdall and Frigga wove spells around Asgard tighter, sealing it off and blocking the sense of magical energies. It was a complicated weaving, drawing upon the foundation of the realm and its Runestaff. While they invited Wanda, Dr. Strange, Marissa and a handful of other magic practitioners from Earth to observe and potentially assist, most of them couldn't seem to see the shape of the spells, let alone comprehend it.

"It's on us, then," Wanda murmured, looking at Loki when she returned to the tower. "Because they're not coming to Earth to help us, are they?"

"They'll need to be present to seal the boundaries," Loki replied, not looking at her in the eye, instead pretending to read a scroll. "I believe there was talk about sealing other realms, too."

Wanda knocked the scroll from his hands. "It's going to be you and me keeping the Earth on lockdown. Can I do it, Loki? Tell me the truth."

He looked up at her, jaw clenched. "No."

She straightened, blinking in surprise. "Then why do they say I can?"

"Because they don't understand the strain it will have on you. This isn't theory, this isn't something on a small scale. To channel that much magic, to sustain it... You can't do it. It will kill you if you try."

"How do we make it so that I don't? Can Carol pump some of her cosmic energy into me? Because she was planning on slinging some stuff around with the others or using her strength to beat on Selene—"

"You will need to unweave the _spá,"_ Loki said abruptly. "You cannot keep the realm secure while you do that. The humans here won't be able to do it, either."

"But—"

"I'll do it," he told her brusquely. "I have power and skill enough to do it."

"By yourself?! It took Heimdall and Frigga together to do it for Asgard, which is way smaller than Earth, and it looked hard to do. You couldn't be there—"

 _"Enough!"_ Loki snapped, eyes blazing with anger. "You will unweave the _spá,_ and those mortals will assist you if they can even read it. I will keep this realm secure."

Wanda gaped as Loki slashed the air beside him with an angry gesture, opening a portal to God-knew-where and stepping through it. The portal immediately shut after him, making it impossible for her to follow him. There were ways to trace the essence of portals, but she didn't know them and didn't think anyone else did.

She found Marissa, Stephen Strange, Olivia Ducat, Renard Luvoisier and Xeng Xaioping in one of the conference rooms. Several open tomes were on the desk, as well as heavy amulets suspended in the air between them. Wanda knew that the coven leaders had been invited to help trap Selene or try to combat her with magic despite the last disastrous attempt to do so. Carol understood Wanda's concern about the cosmic energy she had, but why didn't these magicians seem to grasp the concept?

Marissa saw her, and rose gracefully from the table when her portion of their silent study was complete. She nodded toward the doorway and approached Wanda. "There are several more steps to go before we can try another summoning."

"She's going to kill them. All of us with magic are at risk."

"You've done quite a bit to save the community," Marissa told her patiently. "You didn't expend that effort in vain."

"The others have a plan to physically attack her once she manifests. We need to let them do it. If we can focus on taking apart her _spá_ instead, or reinforcing the boundaries of this world, she can't escape from it."

"They might have a plan, but it's a backup. We underestimated her magic abilities."

"She _absorbs_ magic. You saw her breathe in Natasha's entire life in front of you! Others just dropped dead!" Wanda stared at Marissa in shock. "Don't you get it? She has obliterated other realms. There was no life left. We have to stop it."

Marissa's expression closed off. "And we will. I haven't lived so long just to give it up without a fight. The others will, too. When this is over, we can resume our studies."

 _As if nothing happened_ went without saying.

Frustrated, Wanda nodded at her and spun on her heel to find the Asgardian warriors. They at least didn't dismiss her out of hand like an idiot child. There wasn't a lot she could do there to assist them, but they all respected and feared her gift. "Magic is the provenance of women," one of them had said. He had darker hair and eyes so brown they were practically black. Wanda couldn't remember his name. "It is fearsome, and it will take trickery to defeat the trickery of this monstrous being that would destroy Midgard."

According to Natasha's eyeroll at the time he said it, apparently society on Asgard hadn't shifted quite enough to her liking. But at least they didn't dismiss Wanda or her concerns.

"What are you thinking?" Pietro asked, seeing her wander in with a disconcerted expression.

"The other magic users are going to die," she said flatly. "They're not listening to me."

"So fuck 'em," Pietro told her succinctly, shrugging. "They never cared for Roma before, never thought to consider your magic. So do it yourself."

"It will kill me."

That gave Pietro pause. "Carol and Rhodey were in here before, talking with Commander Aevir, Thor and the Warriors Three. They were making a list of skills and how to arrange everyone around the spot where Selene should be summoned. But Carol, she has magic. She doesn't feel the way you do, but she has magic. Can she give it to you?"

Wanda blinked. "I don't know."

"Because she was talking about hand to hand attacks or piloting a ship. We could work the plan with one less if she can give you her magic."

"What if it's impossible?"

"You control fate," Pietro told her simply. "How is it impossible?" He shrugged and looked at her pointedly. "Those old people think so small, so precisely. They don't think of what you can do, only what you can't. You broke through time and space to talk to me, to show me our parents and unlock memories I thought were gone. Why is this different?"

Looking at him, she nodded. "You're right."

"Of course I am. This is why you should always listen to me."

She pushed his shoulder and laughed in his smug face. "Carol isn't in here."

"She was meeting with the Avengers. They are all going to fight."

Wanda hugged Pietro tightly, and he returned it just as tightly. "You stay safe. If you die, I'll go to Helheim to kill you again myself."

"I'm not going anywhere. Who else will I trust to protect my baby sister?"

Huffing in annoyance, she got up and went off in search of Carol.

***

"Okay, wait, you want to _what?!"_ Carol asked incredulously, staring at Wanda. The blonde had been in a room with Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Clint, Sam, Steve, James, and Natasha; Thor and the Warriors Three had stopped by earlier, but were mostly conferring with the Asgardian warriors. They were largely melee fighters, so the Avengers were going to have to work the ranged weapon option when Selene showed up.

"I'm going to need energy. To rip apart someone's fate." Wanda stared at Carol, willing her to believe that Wanda was calm and confident about this. "So I'll need you to give me the cosmic energy you have."

"By _shooting_ you."

"Sort of. It'll be a specific pattern to fuel the spell casting as I draw in energy."

"How is unweaving drawing in energy?" Natasha asked, brows furrowed in confusion. "Maybe we should ask Loki how that would work."

"I haven't seen him in a while," Wanda admitted. "But I should be able to set up something that will work."

"Should be," Rhodey pointed out, eyebrows creeping up toward his hairline.

"When he took apart stuff before," Tony said with a frown, "he described it as an unweaving. And he looked completely wiped out. Doing that took him days without eating or drinking, he was a wobbly and moody mess..." He looked over at Wanda. "No offense, kid, but I don't know if you can take the same kind of abuse."

Something hardened in her expression. "The Baron made sure we could."

Tony pressed his lips together unhappy at the reminder that she had been kidnapped and experimented on since early childhood. Pepper sighed and patted his arm in that "good going, jerk," kind of way that she had. Her eyes strayed over to Natasha, the only other person in the room who could understand what Wanda was feeling.

"Is it safe for you to do it?" Natasha ask, eyebrow lofted. "I've seen Loki put himself through the wringer for magic, but a lot of times with preparation that can be minimized."

"I'm glad _someone_ thinks I'm capable of this," Wanda muttered.

"You wanting to do it and being capable are separate from your safety," Natasha replied. "Which you still haven't answered."

"In theory, I should be able to transform energy that I get so that I can do the unweaving and not die of starvation or thirst. There are transmutation spells I studied in Frigga's library that are a specialized form of the _spá,_ and that's my specialty."

"But I thought you were going to lock down the realm?" Steve asked in confusion. Beside him, James nodded and looked concerned.

"Loki's going to do that. By himself."

"Is that possible?" Carol asked, looking at her in concern.

"I didn't think so. Heimdall and Frigga have to do the other realms..." She noticed Natasha looking over her shoulder, brows creased in concentration. "What is it?"

Everyone else turned to look in the direction Natasha was looking in. The air had a transparent shimmer, rather like hot air over concrete, roughly the size of a doorway. Reality seemed to warp, as if it was drawn backward and away from them, space pulled through a funnel. It seemed to catch and hold for a few seconds before being pushed forward, toward them, rippling tendrils of reality reaching outward before arcing away and leaving a hole in its wake. The hole widened quickly, revealing what looked like a silver road beneath a dark void with a scattering of stars. Walking toward them on the road was Loki, dressed in the same jeans and green Asgardian tunic he had been wearing the last time Wanda saw him. There were tears on the sleeves and across one knee, and he was no longer wearing his black leather boots. Now he was barefoot, splashes of something dark and viscous across his feet and the bottoms of his jeans.

And on his hands were ten jeweled rings.

Knowing full well what this meant, Natasha, Clint, Tony and Steve shot to their feet, agitation clear on their faces. The others didn't know what it would mean, and were confused.

"I will hold this realm," Loki said. There was an odd resonance to his voice, not quite like an echo, and he cast fevered eyes at Natasha. "It's my home now, is it not?"

"Yes," she said softly. "Come here, Loki."

Loki stepped forward, off of the silver road, fully into the conference room of the tower. The portal behind him immediately snapped shut with a slight popping sound as the displaced air rushed back into place. He grasped Natasha's outstretched hand, and it sounded like static electricity at his touch.

"Can you handle this?" she asked in concern, lifting her other hand to cup his cheek. The softness in her eyes was oddly intimate, making Rhodey and Carol look away uncomfortably, as if this was a moment they shouldn't have been privy to.

"For you, I will. To save the few lives I value."

"I remember my promise if you can't."

His lips stretched back in a sickly, rictus grin. "Good. I hold you to it."

"And that means using the safe word if you can't handle it, Loki," she told him firmly in her domme voice. "I mean it. No heroics, no trying to burn yourself out if you can't. If you're starting to slip and it looks like I haven't noticed it yet, tell me so we can stop it."

"It's addictive," Loki replied. "It vies for your attention."

Natasha snapped her fingers as his eyes seemed to glaze over a bit. "Focus."

He blinked, and then nodded. "Yes. Yes, I remember. Do not get lost as she did. I will start the preparations to protect the realm."

Wanda looked to Natasha fearfully as Loki left the meeting room. "Um... We should be very afraid, shouldn't we?"

She looked after him, a thoughtful expression on her face. "We'll keep an eye on him. But I think we're going to have to do this sooner rather than later."

Steve stood up. "Well, then. Let's suit up and get this started."

***

Loki was drowning in magic and blood.

He could feel power crawling beneath his skin, a sickly restlessness that wouldn't allow him to stay still and rest. The shapes of runes pressed against his eyelids, shattered spells moving through his gut like crawling worms. He might have said something, though he couldn't tell what language it was. Perhaps it was the tongue of Yggdrasil itself, the speech of magic and mystery, fate and time and space, infinity itself.

And then came a fist to the jaw, knocking him back a step.

The fist was metal, and the hiss of exhaust and cooling plates greeted Loki's ears once his eyes refocused on the day and time and place he was physically present in. James was there, hair neat and eyes clear but concerned, jaw set. He wore a simple shirt and jeans, nothing that told Loki anything about what was happening.

"The magic guys are doing their thing downtown," he said. "I don't think you're still doing the preparing you were meaning to do," James added, eyeing Loki.

"Why do you say that?" Loki asked. He could feel concern emanating from James, from Natasha in her suite. It wasn't fear; they didn't fear him, exactly, but worried that he would be lost to this, that he couldn't contain the magic or madness. It wasn't meant for Jotnar to wield, wasn't meant for anyone sane. How Amora managed to craft these or even survive wearing them was a mystery. Unless housing them on Yggdrasil in the dragon bone cage had strengthened them. An eternity to charge them up, and his incomplete vessel to wield its might.

 _Thwap!_ This time, it was only a slap to the face.

"'Cause you keep doing that. You're losing focus, Loki. You're gonna have to get some help to channel this power."

Jealous rage threatened to burn through him, but neither James nor Natasha cared anything for the rings. In fact, he knew they wanted him to take them off. Still, his lips drew back in a snarl that James matched him for, eyes flashing.

"I don't know what magic does to people, but I can tell this is fuckin' bullshit, man. Look, Steve said last time you siphoned off some power to make protection bracelets. Do something like that if you have to. There's more of us now, and we need protection from Selene badly."

 _Oh._ Yes. That was easy. Loki could do that with little effort at all, and in fact was starting to pull the magic out of him. There were the threads being woven into intricate runes via impossibly tiny knots, then larger ones, then a patterned weave that was actually quite beautiful to look at, iridescent colors reminding him of Yggdrasil itself. There was so much magic here, so much power, he didn't bother to do a count of people fighting Selene and subtract the prior bracelets he had made. Twenty-eight Asgardian warriors and their commander, plus the others, and it was easy enough for him to round up and then even double it. Two for them all, double the wards of protection, sure to render them all safe.

James was staring at him agog, because he was not a creature of magic. He was a creature of flesh and blood and metal, born and then crafted. Natasha, his beautiful and clever and lovely Natasha, she had magic woven into her bones now, the gifts he and Hel had given her part of her flesh now. Any child she bore, if she chose to do so, would be able to handle the gift of magic, if any such child inherited a gift.

And as he worked, it was easy to slip sideways and see the shape of Yggdrasil, the gauzy branches of other worlds and times. Loki could see the other self that was married to Natasha, their son tall and straight, with dark hair and green eyes, quick wit and quicker movement. He had magic, this child, able to manipulate runes and _seidr_ with ease. Yet there were other realities where the child was a girl, fiery red hair and blue eyes, lithe and athletic, with a sharp mind able to best even Loki himself. Or redheaded boys with fire in their bellies, the need to prove he was more than the sum of his parents, that he was worthy of being a Young Avenger, of being a hero and saving others.

"I think that's enough," Natasha said from the doorway. Her voice was stern, and she was drawn to the vortex of magic Loki was standing in.

"I see everything," Loki whispered, eyes intent on Yggdrasil.

"But not what's right in front of you," she replied tartly.

Just like that, the words brought him back to his body, to the taste of blood in his mouth, to the twisting bracelets still suspended in air, to James' concern for him. The body aches settled in next, soreness from holding himself so rigidly. "Oh," he murmured, feeling his body collapse in on itself suddenly. James caught him, touch gentle and careful.

"I assume the foundations for locking down Earth are set."

"And protection spells. And wards. And charms..."

"So sleep, Loki," Natasha murmured, her hands cool on the fevered skin of his face. How was he burning up? "Rest. Let us take care of you, okay? You're taking care of us, and now it's our turn to take care of you."

It sounded so good, and there was genuine caring in her expression. He couldn't help but search her face as he leaned up to kiss her hungrily. "You love me, don't you? As you love him? As you care for all your mortal friends?"

Her lips curled into something like a sad smile. "Yes, Loki. I do love you. Now sleep."

It was shock as well as contentment that fell over him. She said the words? Truly?

Smiling up at her, Loki let himself fall asleep in James' arms.

***

The Avengers and Commander Aevir met in a conference room; Aevir had declined to let his men sit in on the conference, but Pietro ran in faster than anyone could see and sat beside his sister under an invisibility spell. Natasha's eyes may have flicked there once, lips twitching in amusement, but she met Wanda's gaze head on and didn't say a word. She was grateful to her for not saying anything, and kept Pietro's hand tightly in hers. Prior to their separate training, they had always been together. It had almost grown comfortable, and now it was odd having him about the tower.

Wanda was supposed to be the go between for them and the other spell casters, but she felt closer to this group. Doctor Strange thought they would be able to cast the summoning and locking spells, then let Wanda do her unweaving while the others attacked and drew her attention. They would focus on the containment spells, Loki would lock down Midgard in case Selene did escape them. Wanda gave up trying to tell them that the containment spells were useless, and that Selene would simply smash through them like before.

"They want to do this in a less populated place," Wanda began when she had their attention. "It would be possible to do this in the Sanctum Sanctorum, but if gets loose or if the physical attacks are too large in scale, there are going to be casualties."

"Are there sacred places _not_ in urban sprawls?" Clint asked.

"I suppose. We could always trace out the ley lines and try to find spots that possess a lot of natural energy that should help. I'd avoid the Vile Vortices—" At everyone's blank looks in her direction, Wanda stopped and shrugged. "Bad places, where all the negative energy seems to collect. The Bermuda Triangle or the Devil's Desert. So we'd want to pick a place with better energy to it, but where it's easy to travel to."

"What do you mean, easy to travel to? We have jets and flying armor?" Tony asked.

"If a positive energy spot is over the ocean, it's not going to work," Wanda replied, making Tony snap his mouth shut and nod. "They didn't settle on a particular location yet, but some would likely be easier than others. Sedona, Arizona, Tibet or Australia were their votes. Giza or major cities would be a terrible idea. It's probably why it didn't work last time, because of the size of New York."

"I might have property near Sedona, if that helps," Tony offered. He looked a little self conscious when everyone stared at him. "It's still hot there this time of year. I liked how the red rocks in the area looked." He made a swirling hand gesture. "You know. Calming. Peaceful. Made me less likely to drink so much. I kind of haven't thought about it since Afghanistan."

"I'll let the others know, then," Wanda offered. "That would be our likely place to start. The desert should also be less populated." She dug into her phone and called Marissa; no one wanted to speak in the room as she spoke to the witch. Even when she hung up a few moments later, the others remained quiet. "It looks like they want it as close to Devil's Bridge as possible."

"And that doesn't sound ominous at all," Clint snarked as a few of the others in the room exchanged worried glances.

"I promise, it just sounds bad. The devil card in Tarot just signifies change," she added, hoping to be helpful. Carol at least seemed convinced. Natasha seemed willing to go along with whatever she said about magic.

"Well, we're certainly looking to make a change," Tony quipped, pasting a grin on his face. "And with Horns locking down Earth to outsiders after she comes in, Devil's Bridge sounds about right to me."

There were groans at his bad joke and Pepper even swatted his arm. But it looked like the planning was over. Now it would be time to begin.

***  
***


	2. The Devil's Bridge

The Sedona landscape contained beautiful hills, rocky ledges and enough geomantic elements to resemble a temple for those who were spiritually inclined. Many New Age adherents had flocked to the city over the years, adding to the artsy element in the city. Dr. Strange had provided a map of the city and the surrounding area, circles, lines and odd symbols dotting it. The ley lines between major geologic formations formed a five pointed star and a six pointed star; if both were enclosed in circles, the two circles met at a specific point not too far from Airport Mesa. Devil's Bridge was in the center of the six pointed star.

The Bridge itself was the tallest natural sandstone arch, and one of the more popular hikes in the area. It was usually dotted with people, which would make a supernatural battle particularly difficult to do in broad daylight. The trail to the Bridge split into two, one going to the base of the bridge, and one going to the top; the upper trail also had a natural stone staircase that was fairly steep, but allowed people to walk atop the arch. Midday was usually the busiest, so Dr. Strange suggested early morning or late in the evening; the sunlight wouldn't matter, but there wouldn't be as many hikers around to take in the view.

Bursting with energy, Loki had transported the entire assemblage to the plateau beside Devil's Bridge about three hours after sunset. The trails were deserted, as the temperatures had started to precipitously drop and the lack of light would have made navigating rock formations or dry creek beds dangerous. Everyone had dressed for the cold, and were startled by Loki sending up shimmering globes of light that hung suspended in a rough circle around where they would have to be. "You all need to see with your eyes," he declared loftily, that odd resonance still in his voice. His gaze fell to Natasha, standing beside the others with her nanomesh armor and weapons. "It will all be over soon, I promise."

"I trust you," she said.

The startled look on his face made him seem almost human for a moment, a pleased smile growing on his face. When the human mages began the chant to create the summoning seal, the smile gradually faded and his eyes grew distant again.

Wanda looked at Carol at her side. "Get ready."

There was a faint hum and a glowing light on the ground in the shape of the seal set into the attic window of Dr. Strange's home. The very air around all of them seemed to be charged with static electricity; Tony, Pepper, Rhodey and James looked around uneasily as static and miniature lightning bolts formed around the seal, but none of it arced out to strike any of the armor or the metal arm. The dust on the ground began to kick up and swirl as if a tornado was caught inside the glowing boundary. The five human mages seemed to have frozen still, not even chanting, their eyes glowing bright white.

"This doesn't look good," Carol murmured, frowning at the sight. "We would've been warned about that, wouldn't we?"

Reaching one hand out toward them, Wanda looked up toward Loki's figure floating above them all. "Start the lockdown, Loki! Now!"

His entire body seemed to carry the same white glow, and then it radiated outward from him as if the magic exploded. As soon as the light cleared, Loki was nowhere to be seen.

Wanda focused on the five mages arranged around the seal where the points of a pentagram would be. Her hands glowed red, and she wiggled her fingers to tease apart the threads of their magic. Bound at the very center of it was Selene, who was deftly weaving the magic around the mages, trapping them within their own binding, allowing her to ignore them. Likely it was so that she could devour them later.

"I've got you," Wanda muttered, lips curling into a smile. She gathered the edges of the spells that had been cast, which had woven around the five casters, and then shoved it down deeply into the center of the seal. It flared bright red for everyone to see, outlining the lithe shape inside the tornado, long black hair whipping about in the wind. "Selene Gallio, you are _tethered_ to this plane."

The wind abruptly died, and Selene stood there, feet hovering an inch above the ground. Her hair was straight and fell nearly to her waist. She was still in a black corset, knee high black boots, and black leggings, but this time she had no cape. Her skin was milk white, her eyes empty white orbs as she took in the assemblage around her.

"Pathetic," she declared, lips curling into a sneer. She didn't seem to see Wanda or Carol, only the Avengers and all of the Asgardian warriors gathered around her. "You cannot destroy me. You are incapable of such things."

"Big talk from someone that hides in the shadows," Clint said, releasing an arrow. Its head was cold iron; while it was only a fairy tale that said it would harm fairies or magic users, he had gotten a handful of arrow heads forged from the material just in case.

The arrow slid through her skin, causing her to snarl in pain. "I will kill you all like the ridiculous peasants you are and take the magic of this world. No more teasing your pathetic world, I'll take it for my own!"

"Oh, please," Tony scoffed, kicking off the ground. Beside him, Pepper and Rhodey did the same in their armor. All three were poised to start attacking with repulsor blasts, and Rhodey also had rockets installed and armed. "Like sucking down magic from millions of miles away will really get you all of the magic of the Runestaff."

"You ignorant fool—"

Tony let loose with a massive repulsor blast. That was the signal for the others to join in, and the circle of Asgardians closed in. They had to duck and weave between the still forms of the mages, but their swords and lances easily nicked Selene's skin. While she was distracted by the physical attacks and had to defend herself from them, Wanda dug through the layers of spells to find Selene's _spá_ in order to unravel it. Even finding it in this mess of spellcraft and energy was difficult, and she sagged with the effort several times. Carol caught her, hands aglow with her own cosmic energy, and the contact was enough to keep Wanda upright and able to focus on the complicated spells woven into Selene's body. The constant attacks, parries and strikes from the melee and ranged fighters meant that Selene had to expend energy to heal the damage or retaliate, keeping her from noticing Wanda rooting around in the background.

Selene let loose a roar of fury and then dove straight at a knot of three warriors. Her hands were clenched into fists, each surrounded by a glow of bright white magic fire. One of the warriors managed to get his shield up before her fist could hit his face; the shield instantly turned to ash and dissipated in his hands. He stumbled and fell forward. The trajectory of her fist meant that it went right into his chest, burning a hole through him. The fire spread outward from the hole her fist made, until his entire body turned to a pile of ash, the magic fire around her fist sparking blue as she absorbed his life energy.

As she did so, his two shieldmates stabbed her with spear and sword, skewering her in the process. Another group of three came in behind her with their swords, one of them neatly severing her spinal cord. Selene roared in pain, making everyone flinch. It felt as though the earth shook, rocks falling down the staircase on the other side of Devil's Bridge.

Wanda used the distraction to dive deep through the layers of spells that made up Selene's physical being and shred them. It was a haphazard cutting, severing connections and weavings that had taken her millennia to forge. "Don't let me fall," she whispered to Carol. No matter what happened around her, she had to keep digging, keep unweaving as she went. There was so much power, so many lives entwined, it would be easy to get distracted and sidetracked. It was hard enough as it was to recognize what was Selene and what wasn't an absorbed piece of magic or lifetime. Wanda had to go in to the very center of her, hoping to sever the connections that allowed Selene to absorb lives to heal herself and prolong her life. 

When she found it, it was too late for the five warriors that had surrounded her.

They all collapsed into ash, and Selene's magic field flared with blue. Their brethren shouted in rage and the drive to avenge their brothers, throwing spears into her chest and back. Carol shouted and shifted her grip on Wanda, sending blasts of energy at Selene's head, snapping it backward from the sheer concussive force. The iron suited trio shot repulsor blasts at her, knocking her off the edge of the plateau.

Undaunted, Selene rose back up to the plateau with her magic, an unearthly wind whipping around her and pushing her hair back behind her like pennants. "Fools. You cannot harm me," she intoned, teeth bared in anger.

Clint shot a cold iron arrow at the center of her forehead in response. Spears from the Asgardians followed, and once she was again over ground, Pietro ran fast enough to strike her in the solar plexus and dart out of her reach before she was even aware he had struck her. "You didn't see that coming?" he taunted, grinning jauntily at her. If Wanda had been paying attention to her, she would have snickered in delight.

"I absorbed all the energies of multiple realms. Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Muspelheim—"

"Jotunheim still has magic. Loki is Jotun, and you know he has magic," Natasha piped up.

Eyes narrowed, Selene leaned forward. "Impossible. I depleted the realm. There is no longer any magic on Jotunheim. And I will take it from you and I will take it from this realm. I will feed until there is nothing left."

Natasha laughed, shaking her head. "Selene, if you think I'm magic, you're sorely mistaken."

"You've denied your skill and craft, yet here you are. You stink of magic." She reached out for Natasha; once her hand crossed the barrier of the seal, the five mages all collapsed to the ground as one, like marionettes with their strings cut. They were all still breathing, and Selene didn't even bother to look in their direction. She was too fixated on Natasha.

Dancing away from her reach, Natasha remained calm. "I was dead. You killed me, remember? But the Queen of the Dead decided I was of more use to her here. Can you imagine the power that must be, to bring back the dead? To make me more than human?"

Selene paused, pondering her words. "What's to stop me from devouring you and ten other helpless mortals before I devour Helheim?"

"I couldn't stop you," Natasha agreed. "But why bother with crumbs if you can have the feast?"

"You just want to save your pathetic second life."

"Maybe. But I'm sure Queen Hel would give me another lifetime. She can give me as many as she wants, with as much power as she wants."

Contemplating that, Selene looked over Natasha, then suddenly grasped her by the throat and lifted her off of her feet. Selene turned her this way and that, rather like a collector would critically appraise a potential addition to the collection, then let go of her. She didn't say a word as she did so, and Natasha didn't speak or squirm in her grip. The preternatural patience paid off, and Selene dropped her to the ground with an arrogant air. "Fine. Show me Helheim."

"Loki knows how to get there. I was just dead." She shrugged and gave Selene a level look. "I never had to take a portal to get there."

Selene narrowed her eyes at Natasha, lips compressed, and then flicked her hand impatiently. A wave of power knocked Natasha to her feet, so that she was sprawled across the ground in front of Selene. She ignored the way the others around them were poised and ready to strike. "I will make my own way there."

"You can travel without the Bifrost?" Natasha asked, eyebrow raised. She didn't even bother to get up, not when Selene kept throwing her around to prove she was so powerful.

Snarling, Selene snapped her fingers. It brought Loki to her, pulling him through time and space from the closest location that she could find. Natasha found it odd to see him be yanked into the current plane of existence, as if he had been pulled by his chest through a narrow tube, his body inflating behind it once he was through it.

"You will create a way to Helheim so I may feast upon it." She gave him a serene smile. "And if you don't, I will begin with you."

Loki still wore the ten rings of power on his fingers, and he didn't cower in front of her. If anything, he smiled at her, all teeth and eerie confidence. "But of course, Selene."

Selene narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't even hope to defeat me, little boy."

"You want to meet Lady Hel, don't you?" he asked, voice hard and taunting. "I'm sure she's dying to meet you."

She reached out with her hands on fire, but Loki batted them away and sneered at her. "Did you really think you could best me? _Me?_ When even those trained by the greatest mages and witches throughout time failed? You are _nothing."_

With a negligent swipe of her hand, Selene batted Loki across the chest with a burst of the flaming white magic. It didn't burn him, likely because of the rings he wore, though one of the protection bracelets he had made and was wearing turned to ash on his wrist. A warrior tried to throw a spear at her to draw her attention away from Loki; though most of them still considered Loki a traitor to Asgard, they understood that he was a necessary part of their plan to save Midgard and prevent Selene from attacking Asgard next. Unfortunately, that act drew her attention to him, and she sent a bolt of white fire at him. Though he brought his shield up to block it, the bolt turned it to ash and went through it. There was barely an instant for that fact to register as horror on his face before his entire body turned to ash and collapsed into a pile beside his companions.

"No, child," Selene told Loki smugly. "You are the one that is nothing. I don't need you to enter Helheim. I can do it myself."

"The ways are barred to all that are not dead," Loki said, pushing himself up to his hands and knees where he was knocked to the ground. Natasha held out a hand to him, and he did take it to stand up. There was an agitated look on his face, but James and Steve behind him made him feel a bit calmer. "Of course, I learned the secret ways to walk Yggdrasil."

"You will tell me."

Loki gave her an arrogant glance. "When I risked much to learn them? I think not."

"Loki," Thor snapped, flicking an anxious glance from him to Selene. "Now is not the time for your pride."

"On the contrary," he countered. "Now is very much the time."

"Stop this!" Sif shouted. "This isn't helping!"

Selene laughed. "Listen to your friends, little boy," she sneered. She reached out to grab Loki again, but he danced out of the way and floated up high above her head. There was a surprised look on her face that he could manage it, and she gathered her power to float up to his level. It visibly took more effort than it should have, and she frowned at Loki as if it was his fault. She ignored the mortals on the ground, a few of which were looking at Wanda anxiously. Wanda was oblivious to their stares, eyes focused solely on Selene, her fingers twitching and mouth moving noiselessly. Whatever she was doing appeared to be working, and some of them seemed to realize that Loki was stalling for time.

Thor and Sif were not among them, unfortunately.

"Do not antagonize this creature," Thor boomed at Loki. "Brother, this is not how we will stop her from destroying this realm!"

That drew Selene's attention. "Brother?" She laughed, an ugly and grating sound. "Well, then..."

Sif realized that Selene meant to grab Thor before he did, and she grasped a spear from the Asgardian near her. She threw it, catching Selene in the arm before she could duck out of the way or set it on fire. Pepper flew in and shot a blast at Selene's face as Tony came in from Selene's other side. "Sorry, psycho," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "That's our playmate. Go find your own."

That seemed to be a signal for the next volley of strikes, and Selene grasped the handle of the spear in her arm. Yanking it out, thick black blood oozed from the wound. None of her other wounds had bled in this manner, and Selene seemed to freeze at the sight of it. Then she turned and whipped the spear around, aiming for Sif, who was pushing Thor out of the way. Steve saw that, and hurled his shield at Selene as he made a dive for Sif.

Instead of hitting her, the spear impaled Steve's thigh and pinned him to the ground.

Natasha gave up shooting at Selene, who didn't seem to feel bullets. Clint shot regular arrows, and there were repulsor blasts and swords swung as Natasha ducked beneath them to get to Steve's side. James came from the opposite direction, and knelt nearby. Sif had a stricken expression, especially when Steve pulled at the fabric of his suit, growling in pain. The entry wound was ringed in a sickly black, a tarry substance coating the area where skin met spear shaft. There were also black veins radiating out from the wound, creeping beneath the untorn fabric. It almost looked like the veins faintly pulsed.

"I'm going to pull it out," Sif said, pain in her voice as she met Steve's gaze. She waited until he caught his breath and nodded.

Immediately, Natasha probed at the wound with her fingers, looking to see if there was some way she could try to cauterize it. The inky black mess had remained, even though it had pulled at the spear shaft as if trying to keep it from being removed. The tendrils waved around, and without any hesitation at all, she grabbed them with both hands and _pulled._

Steve screamed with agony as Natasha struggled to remove the inky black substance trying to work its way into his body. James came behind her and grabbed her torso, pulling her and trying to give her more momentum.

It wasn't enough.

Loki appeared, crouching beside James. It kept him out of the line of sight of Selene, who was fending off the others' attacks. He appeared completely lucid, and grimaced at the sight of the black muck in Steve's wound. "You are right to fear this. Part of what makes her formidable is her very makeup. Darkness, like rot fallen off of the Tree, which does nothing but absorb life and light wherever it is found." Reaching out with one ringed hand, Loki grasped the sticky morass in his fist and yanked it out of Steve's wound.

Super soldier or not, it was more than Steve could take. He passed out as Natasha and James fell over backward. Sif looked about for anything to seal the wound, which now bled in awful spurts in time with Steve's heartbeat. Desperately, she tore at Steve's uniform to make a tourniquet, grasped the edges of her skirt to stem the bleeding as best as she could. Sif made terrified sobbing noises as she pressed down, eyes darting around to look for anything else she could use and keep Steve from dying.

The black muck in Loki's fist squirmed like a live thing, tendrils reaching out for the spreading pool of blood. "No," he said, voice still resonant with power. "You can't have him." He met Sif's terrified gaze, then turned to look at Natasha and James, both stricken and getting back into a seated position. "You can have me."

He swallowed the dark mass as Natasha shrieked for him not to. As soon as it went down his throat, Loki began to make choking noises. His eyes blacked over, and he bent over double, on hands and knees, coughing as if he had to get something lodged his throat out. Instead of trying to cough it out, he looked up, and tried twitching his fingers and whispering a few words in Allspeak. It must have worked, because Steve's blood stopped flowing out of the wound. As far as they could now tell, some of the spilled blood was trying to flow back into it.

Natasha came to Loki's side and put her arms around his shoulders. "You shouldn't have done that. You don't know what it will do!"

"It will let me get the heart," he rasped. "Without killing her before due time." The words were choked out, and to Natasha's, Sif's and James' horror, they could see a black tendril try to snake its way out of the corner of Loki's mouth. He slurped it back in and swallowed it down, even though it visibly made him ill.  
"Right. No more talking, then," James declared, a hand over his stomach as if he was trying to keep his gorge down. For all the murder he had been forced to commit over the course of his lifetime, it was still difficult for him to stomach the worst that magic had to offer.

 _"I see you!"_ Selene boomed above them. Heedless of the oozing wounds she had been dealt, she swatted Tony right out of the sky as he blasted her with the unibeam.

"Tony!" Pepper shrieked inside the golden Rescue suit. She blasted Selene and dove in as she did so, clocking her right across the face with a perfect right hook before she dove down to catch Tony before he hit the plateau. Rhodey, in the meantime, shot a rocket at Selene's eyes so she wouldn't try to throw magic fireballs at them.

Despite parts of her ghostly white skin flaking off, Selene dropped down to the ground where Loki was and grabbed him by the back of his neck. "Open the bridge to Helheim, fool. Or these mortals will all be vaporized where they stand!"

Loki reflexively swallowed a few times, pale skin looking even paler for a moment. "As you demand," he choked out.

Selene let him go with a shake, a smug smile on her face. "There. That wasn't so difficult."

Flicking his eyes toward Wanda's hidden form, he began the complicated spell that would serve as the Bifrost. It would directly transfer Selene to Helheim, and if Wanda had severed enough threads within Selene's _spá_ — which Loki was sure she did, given the state of Selene's physical form at this point—then only Selene's soul would be transferred. That would leave the body behind on Earth. It would rapidly die without the soul, but that allowed Loki to bring her body to Helheim and harvest her heart for Hel.

"Loki, what have you done?!" Thor shouted in distress. Hearing that made Selene's smug little smile grow, and she seemed inordinately pleased with herself and the rainbow hued column of light formed around her body and then lifted upward.

It left her battered body behind.

The body stood there as if suspended for a moment, expression on its face blank and lifeless, more like a ruined wax mask on a mannequin. Then it started to collapse, folding in on itself. At the same time, Wanda collapsed in Carol's arms, unconscious. Some of the wounds oozed terribly now, and the peeling around the face started to curl and pull back from the facial bones.

Sif gagged as a stench rose; the closest to Loki and Selene, she could smell the scent of decay and rot, as if from an open mass grave where thousands would be buried. She staggered back, tripping over Steve's outward flung arm, and stared at the body in horror.

Starting to cough up the roiling mass of darkness in his gullet, Loki leaned over Selene's dead body and let the tendrils wrench his mouth open. The oily slick leapt out and dove into the open wounds of the corpse, eagerly sinking into the rotting flesh. The body suddenly began to breathe again, hands twitching with life.

Ten rings alighting with golden power, Loki wrenched open reality next to him. The portal he created led directly to Hel's throne room. It was entirely done in silver, onyx, mother of pearl and ebony this time, Corinthian columns holding aloft white marble ceiling tiles shot with gray and black veining. Hel was seated upon her silver throne, facing the portal. She was dressed in black and silver, the fabric shifting between the two colors as she moved. Runes were woven into it, and the shifting colors revealed the edges of each shape. None were clear, and it was impossible to tell what spells the dress was meant to contain. Hel's feet were covered, but she wore silver cuffs, a heavy silver pendant on her chest shaped like a crescent moon that covered both breasts, silver chains at her ears that met her shoulders and an elaborate silver and gold circlet around her head that clearly was enchanted. Her eyes were completely black, mirroring Loki's for the moment, and her smile had a cruel edge to it.

"I greet you, Loki," she said, her whisper carrying across the distance between them. "Welcome to my realm."

Levitating Selene's animated body, Loki stepped across the threshold from Earth to Helheim. "I bring you what you asked for."

Looking amused despite no change in her expression, Hel nodded. "Proceed."

Loki brought a knife of dragon bone with a rowan hilt from a sheath at his waist. The body remained still, magic keeping it suspended in air as if on a table. He brought the blade down to Selene's chest, splitting her open from collarbone to waist. Putting the knife down on Selene's hip, Loki reached in and grasped hold of her ribcage and wrenched it open. The sickening cracks sent Pepper scurrying away, faceplate flying up so that she could be sick in the brush. Tony and Rhodey went with her, out of sight of Helheim.

"Such squeamish companions," Hel commented, laughter clear in her voice.

"Not all can do your grisly work," Loki replied as he picked up the knife again.

"Careful how you speak here, Loki," Hel warned, eyes glittering like stars in an endless night.

He moved with deft, sure strokes, expression stony as everyone watched on the Earth side of the portal. Once the heart was cut loose, Loki lifted it out and presented it to Hel, kneeling before her in supplication. "I present the heart of Selene Gallio the deathless, the Absorber, the Destroyer of Worlds," he intoned.

Hel bent at the waist, reaching down to grasp the heart from Loki. The blood that dripped onto her dress was quickly absorbed into its shadowy depths. She ate hungrily, quick bites that she barely chewed before swallowing ravenously. The oozing black blood dripped down her chin and fingers, and she finally licked her lips and fingers. Loki hadn't moved, was frozen in place despite clearly wanting to leave.

Natasha crossed over the portal's edge and entered the throne room. She grasped Loki's elbow just as Hel licked her lips clean. Blood still coating her chin, Hel smiled at Natasha, revealing razor sharp teeth. "My Queen," Natasha said, inclining her head. "I'll take him back now."

"Wait," Hel commanded. "He still has something of mine."

Grasping Loki's wrists, Hel started licking the black blood from his fingers and hands. Natasha remained tense throughout the entire process, eyes flicking from Hel to Loki to the portal. She didn't speak, and could feel the rigidity of Loki's body beneath her hand. Spell work, that much was obvious.

"My seers will take care of the refuse," Hel declared as she straightened in her seat. Her cheeks looked flushed and almost rosy now. "The two of you may go."

"What happens to Selene now?" Natasha asked.

Hel's laughter was an odd grating sound. "What happens to the dead? What happens to the dead that I despise? That I would rend particle from particle, that I would utterly destroy for the rest of eternity?" Her smile was cruel and forbidding. "I am Queen Hel of Helheim. I am the ultimate power in my realm, and you have delivered to me, body and soul, a thing I loathe." She laughed again, a spark in her eyes. "Natasha dear, what _won't_ I do to Selene?"

Stopping to consider that, Natasha gave Hel a level look. "I think I pity her."

"I think that is misplaced. She would never pity you."

"No, she wouldn't," Natasha agreed, feeling the spell holding Loki in place releasing. He was worse for wear now, his breathing shallow and rapid, eyes impossibly wide and nostrils flared. When he realized he could move, he clutched her tight enough Natasha knew she would have bruises later.

"Your realm is safe. Tell your protégé she is _interesting,_ Loki. Perhaps one day I will meet her, and I will see this skill of hers for myself. She did such an excellent job of shredding but not removing the connections and lives that Selene had stolen. Such a tasty little dish, that Selene." Hel laughed, waving them off toward the portal.

As they approached the portal, sidestepping the floating body, Natasha clearly saw the seers coming into the throne room. They moved silently, feet not even visible beneath the heavy robes and cloaks they wore. The hoods obscured their faces, and four of them approached the body as two watched her and Loki leave. She turned back to see what was happening as the portal slowly shrank and then disappeared. The skin on the floating body was flaking away to ash, and one of the seers used the knife Loki had set aside to cut in between the cracked ribs. Hel looked quite pleased, lips curling into a smile as she watched them. It almost reminded Natasha of how it looked when someone carved into a roast turkey at Thanksgiving. The thought turned her stomach, and she turned away as the last part of the portal shut.

"Dude," Sam said, approaching them and grasping Loki's other arm as his feet faltered and he nearly buckled. "Magic is _fucked up._ Now get us all back to New York and take off those damn rings."

Loki gave weak, forced laughter. "Gladly. It is my greatest wish for this damned night to end."

Only too eager to agree, the others gathered close, in a rough circle. Loki transported them all back to Avengers Tower, even the injured Asgardians and Steve, in the same configuration that they had been in at Devil's Bridge. He took two steps down the hall toward the elevator that would bring him to the residence floors when he collapsed, twitching and frothing at the mouth, eyes rolled up in the back of his head.

Natasha, Sam and James wrestled the ten rings off of his fingers, and James kept them all clenched inside his metal fist. "I'll help you guys move him," Sam said, jerking his head toward the elevator. "Then I'll check in on Steve." Sif and Thor were already moving Steve toward an elevator, most likely intending on getting Dr. Calderon. Pepper was insisting that Tony get checked out for a concussion, and most of the Asgardians were insisting that bleeding limbs were par for the course for their training.

Pietro broke away from his fellow warriors to come to Carol's side. "My sister?" he asked, voice hesitant and soft.

"Knocked out cold. I think she'll be okay," Carol told him.

From there, most of the people started to separate out into smaller groups, headed to the infirmary or to their quarters to rest. By unspoken agreement, no one mentioned the fallen warriors that had been vaporized. There were enough wounds to tend to, and they would be mourned soon enough.

The End


End file.
